Rosemary is used in everything from mouthwash to hair tonic to skin lotions.
Reasons to make your own cosmetics and beauty products: 1. Control your ingredient quality
2. No preservatives! (homemade cosmetics don't need shelf lives)
3. Reduce packaging by reusing bottles and jars
4. Reduce pollution (though Tom's toothpaste sounds like it's made in Tom's backyard, I hear the Tom's factory in reality is an industrial eyesore)
5. Save money! Pick wild herbs, make them into tonics, and save!
6. Cultural history! Your granny made many of her own cosmetics, it is a lost DIY art. Ask her about it!
Comfrey makes hair soft and heals skin...
Check out our Herbs Page for information about different herbs and flowers, and for more beauty and medicinal recipes you can
make at home. Our herbs page includes information about calendula,
comfrey,
nettles,
lavender,
rosemary, and more!
Make Your Own Facials, Bath Salts, Lip Gloss, and Aloe Gel! You can make your own spa ingredients, using kitchen ingredients. Homemade cosmetics, the old-fashioned kind your granny used to make, are fresher and healthier for your skin, than products with chemicals in them to expand their shelf lives. For instance, you can have a fabulous facial by combining in a bowl:
1 egg yolk * 2 T. egg white * 1 T. honey * 1 t. rose water
Beat together and then apply to the face and neck. Leave on for about 10-15 minutes, then rinse off with warm water. You will be amazed how refreshed you feel. After the facial, you can spritz your face with a toner made from:
1/2 c. distilled witchhazel * 1/2 c. rose or lavendar water * 3/4 t. vegtable glycerin. Shake your toner before each use, and spray or pat on your face when it is feeling dry.
(Read More...)
Natural Sunburn Care As a fair-skinned, red-headed kid growing up in Los Angeles and Baja,
sunburn was a regular part of my childhood. Chemical sprays were not
effective and mainstream America was ignorant of aloe's properties. Once
back in L.A., after a week in San Felipe, I had bright red burning skin
and a sun blister on my eye which made it hard to close. A family friend
suggested I smear pickle juice on my skin and hold a pickle on the
blister. Desperate, I did it. Immediately, my skin stopped stinging and
the blister went down. I stank but I was no longer hurting.
I later found out that vinegar is a home remedy for sunburn. People soak
paper bags in vinegar and apply them onto burned skin to soothe. There
are many folk remedies for sunburn that work quite well. Cold yogurt is
silky on tender skin and is nutritious too. Cold fizzy mineral water
helps relieve the pain. A cool bath with a handful of baking soda in it
can help stop the stinging. The insides of cool cucumber skins rubbed on
the skin feels good too. For severe burns, make a paste of slippery elm
bark or baking soda, mixed with water, and spread onto burned area. And
there is also aloe vera. Slit the leaf open and use gel.
To prevent peeling once sunburned, one folk remedy is to mix equal
amounts of tomatoes and buttermilk. Mash and cover burn. Another peeling
preventer is to mix 1/4 cup witch hazel extract, 3/4 cup rosewater, and 1
t. vegetable glycerin. Put this in a spray bottle and spray skin all over
to moisturize and restore oils. This is good for dry skin whether burned
or not. Just spray during the day, and dry skin goes away!
I highly recommend Mountain Rose Herbs (click on the banner below)...they sell high quality, fresh, organic herbs, perfect for your homemade cosmetics...
A LITTLE BEAUTY HISTORY Mesolithic cave people used grease and castor oil to soften their skin, and plant dyes for tattoos. Lipstick was worn 5000 years ago near Babylon. In "Biblical" times, olive oil was rubbed into feet. Assyrians and Egyptians rubbed sand onto their skin to buff it smooth. Galen, the Greek, recommended finely ground snails to moisturize skin! The first commercial toothpowders appeared in the Renaissance, made from dried sage, nettles and powdered clay. In Elizabethan times, the absence of eyebrows was popular. Eyebrows were shaved and replaced with fake ones made of mouse skin! Sounds alot like what you see daily in America currently! Plucked and drawn back on... In "The Art of Beauty," a book written in 1825, one of the most popular books of its time, women were advised to erase wrinkles by becoming overweight!
Orange Tooth Powder 2 T. dried lemon or orange rind ** 1/4 c. baking soda ** 2 t. salt
Grind rinds in food processor, adding other ingredients and processing until fine powder. Store
in an airtight container in bathroom. To use, pour a little into hand and rub moistened toothbrush into it, then brush.
Beet Red Lip Gloss 1/4 c. beeswax, 1/4 c. castor oil, 2 T. sesame oil, beet juice
Melt beeswax, remove from heat and add oils, add as much beet juice as desired for color. Store in jar.
Kirsten Anderberg. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint/publish, please contact Kirsten at kirstena@resist.ca.